It Takes A Ninja
by Laughter's Tears
Summary: Maddie's back! April and Casey's eight-year-old daughter returns for a little five-shot showcasing each of our favorite sewer-dwelling mutants doing something that might be a little out of their job description: babysitting. Is there a cuteness genre?
1. Grilled Cheese and Promises

You could probably understand this fic if you haven't read my oneshot about Casey and April's daughter, Maddie (yes, she's an OC): You Do What You Have To Do, but a lot more things would make sense.

The first chapter in this five-shot belongs to Leonardo. We get to see him cook!

I do not own TMNT. *sniff* :(

* * *

"Thanks for coming Leo. We really appreciate it." April said gratefully. "It's no trouble at all. I love babysitting." Leo said.  
It was true. He loved spending time with his 'niece'. "Have fun and don't worry. I can handle it." Casey smirked. "We got a ninja for a babysitter. What is there to worry about?" Leo just smiled back and refrained from listing off the obvious: Foot Elite, extra-dimensional warlords, angry aliens, bounty hunters, government agents, just to name a few. Instead he said "Have a good time on your date-night." and closed the door behind them as they left.  
"Now, what do you want for dinner?" he turned to Maddie, who was sitting on the couch watching the Silver Sentry cartoon (a trait picked up from Mikey). She thought for a moment. He held his breath, hoping that she would pick something simple. "Grilled cheese, please?" Leo nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "I can do that."

He walked to the kitchen, turned on the stove and began assembling the ingredients. About thirty seconds later Maddie was in the doorway. "Cheese slicer?" she asked, her eyes full of hope. April would kill him if she found out. *Sigh* "Only if you promise not to tell your Mom." The eight-year-old nodded solemnly and made the motion of crossing her heart. "Take five steps back." She did as she was instructed. "Alright. Here goes."

Leo threw the block of cheddar up in the air and drew his katana with lightning speed. Before the block hit the table he'd carved off two perfect slices. Maddie squealed in delight. "That was awesome!" Leo cleaned the cheese residue off of the blades and sheathed them. "Yeah, but it's our little secret, remember?" April had a strict rule against ninja-ing in the house. She'd lost too many plates and lamps to Raph and Mikey. Again she nodded and sat down at the kitchen table to watch him finish dinner. Leonardo wasn't as good a cook as Mikey, but he got the job done. At least his food was edible now and you could honestly tell him it tasted good. He flipped the sandwich out of the pan. "Can you cut it diagonally?" she asked. Leo rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think you see me as little more than a glorified paringknife." But he still couldn't stop from smiling as he tossed the sandwich up in the air, sliced it in two, and watched the halves land perfectly on Maddie's plate. "You rock Uncle Leo!" she said as she squirted the ketchup all over the top of his formerly perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Blech! Definitely Casey's daughter.

TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT

At eight forty-five Maddie had brushed her teeth, was in her pajamas, and had just crawled into bed. "Tell me a story Uncle Leo?" she asked. Leonardo sat at the edge of her bed. "Alright. Which one?" The dark haired girl thought for a moment. Leo almost laughed at how close her 'thinking face' mirrored Don's. "The Mousers! I wanna hear how you met Mommy!" Leo tucked the blankets up around her and began. "It all started a long time ago on a normal night beneath the streets of New York. A scientist named Baxter Stockman relesed dozens of robots into the sewers…"

April and Casey unlocked the door to the shop and headed up to the apartment. "So, do you think she's still up like last time?" April asked. "It's Leo, Mr. Responsibility. What could happen?" All he received was a glare to remind him how ironic those words were for them. "What? I'm just sayin'. If I know Leo, she's sound asleep and he's up there meditatin' or somethin'." "Yeah… I'm probably just being a little nervous." She unlocked the door to the apartment. "Leo? We're home." She announced their presence. No answer. "Leo? Yo, come on out. This ninja stuff ain't funny." Casey said. April went to go check on Maddie.

"Hey, Casey. Come see this." April whispered.

Just as Casey had predicted, Maddie was sound asleep in her bed. But on the floor next to the bed, using a giant teddy bear for a pillow, was a blue-masked ninja turtle.

_Earlier that night_

"_And then April saved the day by rigging all of the mousers to self-destruct, causing Stock-tronicsto go up in smoke. The end, actually though, it was just the beginning." Leo flicked on the night light, tiptoed out, and left his charge to her sleep._

_Only ten minutes later he heard a noise in her bedroom. Senses on high alert, he went to investigate. What he found was an eight-year-old reading a comic book in her bed, the lights blazing."Maddie you have to go to sleep." "I don't wanna." "You have to. What's wrong with sleep? Even Donny sleeps sometimes." Leo joked. Maddie looked around at the corners of her bedroom before whispering "The dark." Leo softened immediately "You have your night-light." He tried to reason with her. It was a very cool night light. Had turtles on it and everything. The girl was obsessed with turtles. Whose fault was that, he wondered. "It makes funny shadows." She looked up at him with Mikey's puppy dog eyes. " Please don't go Uncle Leo." She was learning way too much from that youngest brother of his. "Alright." _

"_Promise?" _

"_I promise."_

The next morning-

"So Leo, care to explain why you slept on Maddie's floor last night instead of going home when we got back from our date?" April asked as her reptilian babysitter prepared to make his exit out her window.

"Oh that? No big deal. I had a promise to keep."

* * *

R&R. Constructive criticism is always welcome and I always try to answer questions.

Next, Mikey treats the chiken pox.


	2. Oatmeal and Itches

I still don't own TMNT. At least Maddie's all mine.

This chapter belongs to Michelangelo. He takes on Donny's role as doctor when Maddie comes down with chicken pox. Tons of cuteness. Lot's of fun.

Thank you to my reviewers.

* * *

Mikey loved his life. April and Casey were off to deliver some old stuff to a buyer in Pennsylvania; Leo and Master Splinter were at Casey's Grandma's farm for a meditation retreat; and Raph had just come home requiring the services of 'Dr. Don', which left Mikey as the sole babysitter for one Madeline O'Neil-Jones for an entire weekend.

Oh the plans he had! A Silver Sentry movie marathon! Maybe she would finally let him teach her the fine art of the belch. A couch cushion fort! Kids loved that kind of stuff, at least they did in all the books he read.

He popped his head through the window. "'Llo? Anybody home?"

"Mikey, thank goodness you're here! April's goin' nuts wantin' ta hit the road." "Never fear, the Turtle Titan is here!" "Yeah, yeah, just get your butt downstairs April wants to talk to ya."

"…No sugar after six thirty, no staying up past her bedtime, and fruit or veggies with _every_ meal." April checked every item on the babysitter's rule list. "Oh, and one more thing Mikey." "Yeah April?" "NO NINJA TRAINING! Last time you babysat I had to explain to her teacher why she gave another student a black eye for saying that Leo was a stupid name for her stuffed turtle toy." April put her hands on her hips and glared down the orange-masked turtle until she was satisfied that ninja-ing would be used only in emergency situations. And with a list of contact info for Mikey and a kiss goodbye for Maddie, April and Casey were off.

The first night was pretty uneventful as far as babysitting goes. They played go-fish, watched Finding Nemo (guess what her favorite part was?), and Mikey made ravioli with 'Secret Mikey Sauce' for dinner. However when bedtime rolled around he began to notice that something was off.

"Hey, Mads. You missed some of that sauce on your face." Mikey said as Maddie came out of the bathroom. She'd just finished her bath.

"Huh? No I didn't."

"Uh, yeah, you did. I'm looking at it."

"I washed my face."

"Well come on. Let's go wash it again." Mikey got up and came over to lead her back into the bathroom. Upon getting closer he noticed that it wasn't sauce on her face it was some kind of mark. "What is that?"

They went back into the bathroom so that Maddie could look at the mysterious red mark in the mirror too. "Whatever it is, it itches. She reached up and scratched it." Mikey noticed something. "Maddie, there's another one on the back of your neck." "Where!" She turned her head to try and see it. It was almost comical to see the girl turn a full circle like a dog chasing its tale. "Unless you can turn your head 360, you're not gonna be able to see it." He said while trying to stifle his laughter.

Wow, that kid had inherited April's glare.

"Eep! You know what, I'm going to give Donny a call. Maybe he'll be able to tell us what these things are." he retreated away from the miniature version of the April-glare.

"She's got chicken pops! Is that like corn pops?" Donny face-palmed. "Chicken _pox_ Mikey. Chicken _pox_. It's a common childhood disease, for humans anyways. I'll look up some treatments and e-mail them to you. In the meantime, keep her from scratching the sores, check her temperature, and call me back if it's over one hundred and two." "Right. Will do. Don't worry. I've got it under control. No! Maddie! Put the fork down!" Donny groaned as his little brother hung up the phone. Right. Mikey and control. He'd believe it when he saw it.

A crash came from the vicinity of Raph's room and Donny sighed. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave an injured Raph alone while in the middle of the healing process. He seemed determined to get back on his feet and undo what little healing Don had forced him to do so far. Mikey would have to manage on his own.

"Why do I gotta do this?" Maddie asked. "The stuff Donny sent says it'll help with the itching. You want the itching to stop don't you?" Mikey said. The dark-haired girl's eyes lit up. "Gimme that!" she grabbed the stuff from Mikey's hands and slammed the bathroom door. About fifteen minutes later there was a gurgling noise and Maddie called out "Uncle Mikey, this stuff isn't working. And I think it broke the tub!" "Okay. Go ahead and get out. I'm coming in." He entered to a bedraggled and spotted towel-wearing girl standing next to a backed up tub. Mikey stared at the goo clogging the drain. It strangely resembled barf. "I don't get it. The thing said that oatmeal baths were supposed to work like a charm. It's like, an old remedy from way back in the Stone Age. I cooked the oatmeal perfectly. It should have worked." Maddie reached over and patted her uncle's green arm. "Uncle Mikey, I think you can consider this myth busted." The bathtub drain gurgled in agreement.

There was a knock at the door and at the same time Mikey's shell-cell went off. "Mikey's party-line. Fun-master speaking… oh, hey Angel." He went and opened the door. "Fun master?" the purple-haired college student mocked him. "Ha ha. Do you got the stuff?" "Yeah, I got it. Calamine lotion, kid's cold medicine, chicken soup. Poor kid she must be miserable." Angel commiserated, remembering her own case of chicken pox at age seven. "Not really." Mikey shrugged.

"Angel! Uncle Mikey found a fun game for me to play with my chicken pops!" Maddie ran over to them and leapt into Michelangelo's arms. Her face was covered in blisters, but that wasn't what _drew_ the eye. "You know that April's going to kill you." Angel said bluntly. "Hey. The marker's washable. And it keeps her from scratching." "I like playing connect the dots. I'm gonna try it on my tummy next!" Angel just shook her head. "Dude. You are one dead turtle."

Over the next day and a half, Michelangelo obtained a new respect for Don's patience.

"Maddie, no scratching." Ten minutes later. "Maddie. No scratching." Five minutes later. "Maddie, didn't I just tell you not to scratch?" Five more minutes. "You're scratching again." Turn his back and… "Maddie, scratching." "How did you know?"

She was so uncomfortable. Her bed made her itch. Her clothes made her itch. Even her hair made her itch. About evening on Saturday she climbed into his lap while he was watching TV on the couch and leaned her head on his shoulder. She let out a big sigh of contentment and pulled his arm around her shoulder. "Thanks Uncle Mikey." She said. He was confused. "Umm. You're welcome. For what?" "You don't itch." She fell asleep like that and he didn't have the heart to move her. So they both just slept there on the couch that night.

April and Casey got home around noon on Sunday and took over. April immediately went into mother hen mode and Mikey dutifully relayed all pertinent information to her. "Wow Mikey. You handled this really well. I'm impressed." "Aw, it was nothin'." He said. "I'll be back tomorrow to see how you're doin'." he promised Maddie. "Okay." the little girl said with a wave. And with that Mikey ducked out the window.

April barely registered the unusually hasty exit.

Then Casey's voice came from the bathroom "Who barfed in the tub!"

* * *

I hope you liked. If you did, R&R.

Remember, reviews make for happy authors.  
And happy authors post chapters sooner rather than later. : ) - Happy author.

Next up, Raphael.


	3. My Sunshine

This chapter belongs to Raphael. Sorry it took so long. There were so many possibilities with Raph, it took so long to settle on this one.  
I hope you like it.

I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But Maddie's all mine.

* * *

It had been a long day. Raphael didn't know that he could be so tired out by anything but a fight. It was finally bedtime and both he and Maddie were yawning. He tucked the little girl into bed.

"But I'm not sleepy Uncle Raph." she protested.

"Yeah. I know. Try anyway." he said as she let out a big yawn.

He flicked on the two turtle nightlights. "See ya in the mornin' kiddo."

"Uncle Raph. Will you sing me the song?" she said.

"Of course I will." He pulled the chair over from her desk and sat down next to her bed. She nestled down deeper into the cocoon of blankets as he the big tough turtle began to sing softly.

_You are my Sunshine,_

_My only Sunshine._

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey_

_You'll never know dear,_

_How much I love you._

_Please don't take my Sunshine away._

Raphael watched as her breathing evened out. He repeated the song one more time and stayed until he was sure his getting up wouldn't wake her. "Sweet dreams Sunshine." He said quietly as he closed the door behind him.

(_flashback- eight years ago_)

"Hey. I'm Raph." The red-bandanna-ed turtle said awkwardly, pushing back the blanket just a bit so that he could get a better look at this strange creature's face. The little dark-haired baby reached up and grabbed one of his fingers. "Uh, April. It's got me."

"Awww, Raph, I think she likes you." April said, beaming down at the little girl in her arms. Raph just smiled nervously. "Do you want to hold her?" April asked. Raphael pulled his hand back with a start.

"What! You can't- I mean- She's so tiny. What if I break her?" He panicked. April just laughed.

"Take it easy Raph. It's simple. And you're not going to 'break her'. Here. Sit down on the couch and I'll show you."

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Raph sat down and positioned his arms the same way April's were. He then allowed the small bundle to be placed in them.

"You just have to support her head because her neck isn't strong enough to do that on its own yet." April explained. Raph was about to break a sweat.

"You're doing fine. Look. She's smiling at you. You're a natural." Raphael looked down at the little girl in his arms. She _was _smiling at him.

"Hey. I'm Raph. You don't know me very well yet, but if things keep goin' this good, I think you and I are gonna be okay."

Raph stayed for a good hour. He learned how to prepare a bottle for her, burp her (he had no idea it could be that disgusting), and he even watched April change her (he lived in a sewer, and that was just _gross_!). About an hour and a half after he'd arrived, the phone rang. April answered, and took it into the kitchen. She came back a few minutes later.

"I'm so sorry Raph, but Casey broke down on the Turnpike. He got a tow, but I need to go pick him up from the garage. You don't think that you could watch Maddie do you?" Raph looked down at the baby and back at the desperate look on April's face.

"Yeah, sure Ape. Just tell me what I gotta do." he said. April sighed with relief.

"She needs to go down for her nap in about twenty minutes. I just fed her _and_ changed her, so if she wakes up it's probably just because she wants to be held. There's a rocking-chair in her room. Try that. You're a life-saver Raph!" April said as she grabbed her purse. Raph chuckled.

"Yeah. I save lives on a regular basis. It's a ninja thing."

Raph had been surprised how easy it had actually been to put the kid down for a nap. Of course, Donnie had made sure they all learned how to do everything the _correct_ way. Raph shook his head. That brother of his might be good for gadgets and stuff, but sometimes *forced babysitting classes _cough cough_* all those smarts of his could be downright annoying.

Ten minutes later a wail echoed through the apartment. He'd had the feeling that things had been too easy. In seconds he was standing over the crib.

"Hey there. Why're ya cryin' kiddo?" That's right April said that she probably wanted to be held. He picked her up. "It's okay. I'm here. You can stop cryin' now." Still wailing. Rocking-chair! April said something about a rocking-chair! He sat down and started rocking back and forth. Still Maddie cried. Poor kid. Raph hated seeing anything cry. Except maybe Purple Dragons.

"Shh. Shh. I'm here. It's okay. I'm here." He whispered, holding the child closer to his chest "Ain't nobody gonna hurt ya while Uncle Raph's here." The wailing began to slow. Gradually it quieted down to gentle hiccupping, and then that too stopped.

"Hey. Look at you! You stopped cryin'. Think you can go back to sleep for Uncle Raph?" If Mikey ever caught him talking baby-talk like this he'd never hear the end of it. "Think you can go back to sleep?" The baby just blinked at him. "Aw, who'm I kiddin'? I can't keep up talkin' like that. So, you goin' back to sleep for me kid?" Hmm. How do you get babies to go to sleep? He was already rocking, talking in a soothing voice, what else.

Singing.

Oh man. If his brothers ever found out… Raph looked down at the little girl in his arms. Who was she going to tell? Now, what to sing? The remnants of a song tugged at the corners of his memory. He thought for a moment, waiting until he was sure he had all of it there, then he began the lullaby.

_You are my Sunshine,_

_My only Sunshine._

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey._

_You'll never know dear,_

_How much I love you._

_Please don't take my Sunshine away._

Raph looked down. Still wide awake. He tried it again. And again. And again. Finally she yawned. Again.

_You are my Sunshine, _

_My only Sunshine…_ drooping eyelids.

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey… _that was a reeeally long blink.

_You'll never know dear,_

_How much I love you…_ her breathing was evening out. This might actually be happening!

_Please don't take my Sunshine away._

Finally, she was asleep. She looked so peaceful, restful, innocent. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.  
He laid her down in the crib and kissed the top of her head as he pulled the blanket up over her. Then he sat back in the rocking chair and watched her sleep.

"Hey there Maddie. Welcome to the world. I know it ain't perfect, but it's the only one we got. I'm your Uncle Raph and this I promise you: I'll die before I ever let anythin' hurt my Sunshine."

(Present day)

Raph lay on the cot in Donnie's lab, trying to listen through the door for any conversation out in the Lair. He hated being cooped up in here. Sure, only a half hour ago he'd had a bullet in his leg, but Donnie'd taken the thing _out_. Sure, he had a couple of stitches on his arm, but come on! Bed rest? He hated it when his brother tortured him like this. The leg barely hurt anymore. He tried to move it. *Groan* Okay. Maybe it still hurt. But that was no reason to lock him up!

The door creaked as someone entered.

"Hey Donnie? Is that you? You gonna let me out now?"

"Uncle Raph?" Aw shell. Who let her down _here_?

"Yeah Sunshine?"

"Does it hurt?" she was scared. He could hear it in her voice. He'd seen enough scared people to know fear when he saw it.

"Not really. Come on over kiddo. It's alright." She shut the door behind her and pulled over Donnie's computer chair.

"There you go. See? It ain't nothin' to worry about. I just got in a little over my head is all. I'll be fine."

The worry was still etched on her face.

"Promise?"

Raph smiled. "I promise."

She relaxed.

They sat there in the quiet for a while. Then Raph became aware that Maddie was humming. It was a familiar tune. One he'd sung to her more times than he could count. Softly he started singing along.

_You are my Sunshine,_

_My only Sunshine._ At first Maddie was startled, but then she smiled and her voice joined his.

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey._

_You'll never know dear,_

_How much I love you._

_Please don't take my Sunshine away._

"I love you Uncle Raph."  
"Love you too Sunshine."

Splinter entered the kitchen and began making himself some tea. "Master Splinter, weren't you going to go check on Raph?" Donnie asked, glancing in the direction of his lab. "Maybe I should go-" "Later, my son. A wise man knows when not to ruin the moment."

* * *

Next up: Donatello

R&R please.


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